"Schooled- The Price of College Sports" Summary

          The purpose of the movie was to attack the NCAA for being a corrupt and immoral organization withholding rights from the players the film views as laborers. This is a systematic attack exposing the hypocrisy in the NCAA, the backwards ideas spewing forth from the organization’s officials on why they can’t pay players. President Mark Emmert at one point argues against the joke that the NCAA has the best salary cap in sports by stating simply, “There are no salaries,” as if that’s the end of the conversation instead of precisely the problem. The film’s best evidence is systematically unraveling and debunking the now long-ridiculous myth of amateurism in college sports. Even the Greeks didn’t adhere to this idea of unpaid athletes, since ancient Olympians were compensated with land and women. Athletic ability is a marketable skill, but college athletes—specifically in the sports that would net the most money, are not only prevented from making money off their skill, but required to go through four years at college risking health and potential livelihood just so they might be able to get drafted. 

      

       The film started with a montage of colleges on a game day. It is used to show the environment at a college on game day. The film is filled with collegiate athlete's anecdotes that are used to show just how corrupt the NCAA is. Analysts were interviewed and explained how the athletes were trapped by the NCAA and forced to perform at outstanding levels of play and bring in boatloads of money for the NCAA. The unanimous decision is to have students get paid for the work they do for the college and the money they bring in for the NCAA. 

Rhetorical Precis

      In Trevor Martin's sports documentary "Schooled- The price of College Sports(2013)", he exposes that the NCAA  exploits athletes and exhibits unjust treatments to college athletes. The author first introduces anecdotes about college athletes to create sympathy for those players who had unjust treatment placed upon them by the NCAA; he then introduces different ways to solve this problem by suggesting compensation for players and possible rule changes. His purpose is to speak out against the NCAA for the poor treatment of student athletes in order to fight for fair treatment of athletes. He seems to have sports fans as an audience in mind because the documentary is regarding sports in college. I agree with the documentary, I feel that it is unfair for the NCAA to get all the rewards for the hard work that the athletes did. It is unjust to exploit college athletes for their sports ability to bring in money to the NCAA and to the schools when all the athletes get in return is a free education.

Article Summary and Analysis

     Summary:
   
      The main argument made by author Dave Leonardis in his work, Kevin Durant's Injury Proving to Be Blessing in Disguise for Russell Westbrook, is that the unfortunate injury of Kevin Durant has proved valuable for the Thunder because it has resulted in Westbrook playing some of the best basketball of his career. He writes that , "The NBA's masked avenger leads the league in scoring with 27.4 points per game while also placing 4th in assists(8.3) and second in steals(2.1)". Leonardis says, " Westbrook is playing just fine without his Thunder buddy". In this passage,  Leonardis suggests that the Thunder do not need Durant when they have the stellar play of Westbrook. In conclusion, Leonardis' belief is that the  Thunder have played outstandingly behind the leadership of Westbrook.

  Analysis:

    In my view, Leonardis is correct in saying that the absence of reigning MVP Durant is proving beneficial to the Thunder. More specifically, I believe that the Thunder remain confident while in Durant is sidelined because they believe in the leadership of Westbrook. For example, Westbrook has played his best basketball while Durant is sidelined because his teammates trust him to perform at his highest possible potential to make up for what they are missing without Durant on the floor. Although, Leonardis might object to my point when I say that the Thunder still need Durant on the court. I maintain that the Thunder are playing great basketball behind the leadership of Westbrook, but they still need to have Durant on the court. Therefore, I conclude that the author, Dave Leonardis, is correct in saying that Durant's absence has proved beneficial, but the Thunder require Durant in order to perform at much higher levels of play.

Blog Post #5 News Writing

   Daniel Hughes of small town Norton Ma, shocks the world and defeats Superstar Boxer Manny Pacquiao by knockout in first 30 seconds of fight last night at MGM Grand Garden Arena winning over 25 million dollars.

Hughes was unaware he would be facing Pacquiao until 30 minutes before the fight was scheduled. Mayweather suffered from food poisoning and was not cleared to fight. Hughes was traveling with Mayweather training with him when he was told he would be fighting Pacquiao for the title.

" I was incredibly confused when I was told to get changed and immediately report  to the ring", said Dan. " Now I am very excited that I did it!"

Hughes entered the ring nervous and not feeling up to the task of fighting a boxer of such high caliber like Pacquiao. The bell was struck and Pacquiao advanced in. He threw a sharp punch at Hughes that he was able to duck and came back with a huge uppercut that put Pacquiao on the ground and ending the fight 30 seconds after the bell was rung.

Hughes stated, " I want to silence all the haters by saying, yes this was luck, but I will fight anyone who is up for it"!

Hughes will be facing Mayweather in May to defend his title at MGM Grand Arena.

Hoop Dreams

    "Hoop Dreams" was a tremendous documentary revolving around two amazing basketball stars who played in high school in Chicago. Arthur Agee played for the Marshall Commados. William Gates was the starting point guard for St. Joseph's. Both players had promising basketball careers and had hopes of going to play in college and onto the NBA. Both Will and Arthur struggled keeping good marks in school because they were only motivated in basketball. Will and Arthur lived in areas of Chicago where drugs were prevalent. However, they were able to stay off drugs and away from drugs because they knew that getting into that kind of stuff would jeopardize their basketball careers.

     A theme that I recognized from the beginning was the theme of basketball being more of job to them more than it was a sport. The boys loved playing the game, but later on in life and into high school it became a job to them. Their coaches wanted the best for them, but it resulted in putting so much pressure on the boys. It almost made them begin to not like playing the game. There were even points in the movie where the boys did not want to continue playing. The coaches put so much pressure on the boys and recruiters stressed the boys that it became a job and it was no longer a sport to them.

How Sports Transcend Culture

      Professional sports has impacted society in a variety of ways. Sports make athletes as well as their viewers look past racial discrimination, political standpoint, sexual orientation, and religious beliefs and join together to play, win, or watch. Sports have a unique way of bringing all types of people together to cheer on their favorite team and celebrate in their victory or commiserate the loss. Even today, it is able to bring people together during this time of racial discrimination in the US, athletes still are able to work together as one team. Ever since Jackie Robinson, broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball, discrimination has been broken down in professionals sports allowing athletes to forget about racial disputes and just play the game that they fell in love with.

      Sports however, also has some negative impacts. Die hard fans would become aggressive and get carried away and lost in the game. It would result in damage due to celebration or damage due to anger because of the loss. It also creates negative impacts on an athlete's career. Take for example, Billy Cundiff. He missed a field goal attempt to tie the game for the Ravens which lead to a Patriots win.  He received hate mail and death threats because he blew the game for the Ravens. Many lives are affect by sports. You hear all the time about players who can no longer live normal lives because of injury caused by sports.

    Sports have been a huge part of my life ever since I was young. I have always relied on sports to an emotional outlet for whenever I was not feeling like myself. I would go out and play catch or I would shoot around in my neighborhood. It was my way of releasing stress. I loved playing with all my friends and winning championships most summers. Sports is the main reason I am friends with who I am today. Our common interest in sports made it easy for us to connect and we have been friends ever since. Sports has given me the opportunity to create lasting bonds and gain on and off field knowledge that will help me for the rest of my life.

Do Americans like Villains in Sports?

        In my opinion, I feel that Americans like villains in sports when the the villain is going to lose. They like seeing their favorite team take down the Villain and be a hero to their respective city. In this article however, they take into account that boths team that played in the Super Bowl were evil villains. It discusses how the Patriots are like Lex Luthor. The evil genius who continuously gets in the way of Superman and causes him a myriad of problems. " Whether it's allegedly deflating footballs in the men's room of their stadium (Deflategate), or spying on other team's practices (Spygate), head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady know all the lines that can't be crossed, and how to cross them"(John A. Tures).  The losing team being the Seahawks, can be compared to The Joker. Marshawn Lynch truly brings out the Joker-esque personality of the Seahawks. He fails to comply with uniform regulations and he has a dislike for media questions, he truly shows how the Seahawks resemble the psychotic Joker.

     The Super Bowl was one of the craziest games I have seen in quite awhile. The back and forth nature  kept me on the edge of my seat for the entire game. It wasn't until the amazingly lucky catch by Jermaine Kearse that I gave up hope. After I let out a scream that could be heard for miles, I sat back in my chair in utter disbelief. I had given up. I was ready to pack up and leave my friend's house. I took one last look at the television and saw Russell Wilson preparing to make a throw. I ran back to see Malcolm Butler make the interception of his life and save the game for the Patriots. I was ecstatic. I hugged just about very one in the room and was so unbelievably excited. I could not belief the series of events that had occurred in the last few minutes of the most important football game of the year. I lost my mind and spent the rest of the night cheering and celebrating with my friends. It was a night I will remember for the rest of my life. I spent it with some of my best friends and watched the most thrilling and exciting football game. It is a game that will be talked about for quite some time.



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